


Drenched

by LittleDidTheyKnow



Series: First Moments [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Moments, Fluff, Not Canon Compliant, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-03 01:07:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10956519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleDidTheyKnow/pseuds/LittleDidTheyKnow
Summary: Karen is already sick. Then she gets drenched when a cab plows through an enormous puddle. Good thing Matt is there to take care of her.Pre-season 2 drama.





	Drenched

It was a very wet Thursday afternoon. Matt was waiting for Karen to return from a client's office with paperwork that they needed signed. Nelson & Murdock wasn't in a place to have a messenger service, so it was pretty typical for Karen to take it on herself.

He heard the building door open as a sneezing Karen trudged up the stairs. He could tell that she was upset. She opened the door to Nelson and Murdock and yelled his name. 

"Hey, Matt?"

He left his office and heard her breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of him, coupled with the sound of drips hitting the floor.

"Can you get some towels? I'm soaked."

"Sure." Matt went to the kitchen and found some dish towels. He handed them to her. "What happened?"

She put two dish towels underneath her feet and used the third one to wipe off her arms and legs. "First, the umbrella I had broke. That I could live with. But I always thought the 'car splashing a puddle of water' trope was just something that happened in movies…"

"Oh no. That sounds terrible," he said, sensing her embarrassment.

"If I had known I would have been hit by a tidal wave of dirty New York City muck, I would have worn a raincoat. Or a trash bag." She said, sneezing again. "But I got the documents you needed…"

He took them from her hands and felt her forehead. "Oh, Karen. You already had a cold. You must be miserable."

"I'm fine Matt. I'm more annoyed that I had to walk the whole way here. I tried to get a cab, but they drove past me at an alarming pace. Apparently, cab drivers don’t want a swamp rat in the back of their car."

"You walked the whole way here? In this downpour?"

"It was only twelve blocks, Matt, " she said sarcastically. "I couldn't bring myself to drip all over people on the bus, so I made a judgment call."  She sneezed four times in a row, feeling lightheaded as she caught her breath.

"Let's go into my office." He said as she shook her head no, forgetting that he was blind for a moment and indicating that she was soaked. He responded like he could read her mind.  "Don't worry about the floor. I brought my gym bag in and I think I have some extra clothes."

She followed him and shook as he grabbed his gym bag off the floor and removed a plastic bag that was filled with another small towel, a pair of sweats, and a t-shirt.

"I don't want to stink up your clothes, Matt. I can just run home. I just knew those contracts were important." 

"Karen, I don’t care about my clothes. No one is here, just put these on." He handed them to her and walked to his door to make her comfortable in the fact that he'd stop anyone who might come into the office while she was changing.

"Thank you, Matt." She removed her sweater and dress and put them into the empty plastic bag. She took off her wet bra and underwear, knowing they would turn her fresh clothes damp. She wiped herself off as much as possible and got dressed.

"I'm good." She said, and he walked back into the room as she tried to dry her hair with the damp towel.

She sneezed again and couldn't control her shivering.

Matt walked across the room and wrapped his arms around Karen, rubbing his hands over her in an attempt to give her some warmth. She sneezed into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Matt!"

"It's fine, Karen." He laughed. She lay her head against his shoulder trying to get warm.

"You need to take the day off."

"We have too much work to do. I can run home to shower and change, but I need to get back to work as soon as possible."

"Karen. It's fine. You already don't take enough time off. Maybe you'll feel good enough to work tomorrow if you rest."

This was the right approach to persuade her to go home. "You're right." She gathered her things and left him in his office, hearing him let off a chain of sneezes. She really hoped their being in this close of quarters didn't get him sick.

Karen was able to get a cab to her apartment this time. She walked upstairs with her bag of wet clothes and hopped in the shower. She was already feeling better. When she walked out of the bathroom, the smell from the wet clothes had invaded her studio. "Gross." She said, covering her nose with the crook of her arm.

Karen put on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and grabbed the clothes Matt lent her, smelling them and regretting the decision instantly. She decided to run to the Laundromat around the corner from her building to clean them since she felt like she could function. She grabbed her laundry necessities and a half-filled basket, putting the disgusting clothes inside of it and leaving her apartment.

The rain had let up a little, and Karen was thankful. Her hoodie wouldn’t hold up in the crap she had been in earlier. After starting a load, she set an alarm on her phone and ran back to her apartment. Her stomach started grumbling, so looked in her cabinets for something to eat and found a small can of tomato soup. "Thank God." She said, pouring the contents into a pot on the stove and waiting for it to cook. She didn't notice she was shivering until she saw her fingers dancing on the counter.

Karen went to her bathroom and saw that she was out of cold medicine. This was the way things would go today and it was time for her to accept it. She ran back out to check on the soup and pulled it off the stove, pouring it into a mug. Her phone showed that she had 20 more minutes until the laundry could be switched. She started to feel sluggish as she drank her soup, and noticed her nose was starting to hurt after she blew her nose into a tissue. She was glad Matt sent her home.

When she was halfway through her soup, she realized she lost her appetite. Karen really hoped she didn’t have the flu. She dozed off and woke to the alarm on her phone. After a slow walk to the Laundromat, Karen put the clothes into the dryer and set another alarm. She knew she wasn't going to make it back up to her apartment, and sat in a seat in the corner and pulled her knees up to her chest dozing off instantly. 

Karen woke to the next alarm and realized how terrible she felt. She mustered up her strength and put everything into the basket. It took her twice as long to get back to her apartment, but she made it. She pulled Matt's clothes out of the basket and folded them, leaving them on her nightstand. She still didn’t feel like eating, so she decided to watch a movie on and lay down. She grabbed Singin' in the Rain off of her bookshelf and put it into her laptop, setting it on her other nightstand. She grabbed her tissue box and held it close, crawling under the covers and smiling as her favorite movie started playing. It was already 5:30 pm.

Karen fell asleep ten minutes into the movie. It wasn't until she heard a knock at her door that she woke from her deep sleep. "Karen?" Matt's voice said, followed by a sneeze.

She hopped up and opened the door. "Don't tell me I got you sick." She said, smiling as she saw that he his arms were full.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, stepping inside.

"Not great. But I'm happier now that you are here." She melted as he smiled. "What did you bring?"  

"I got some chicken noodle soup from Leona's. When she heard that you were sick, she threw in an extra container." Karen smiled. " Also, cold medicine, cough drops, and tea. "

"Matt, you are my hero. I am completely out of cold medicine. And tea sounds wonderful."

He walked to the kitchen and found her teapot, filling it and putting it on the stove. "Are you hungry?" he asked, coughing this time.

"Oh, Matt.."

"I'm fine, Karen. Let's worry about you first."

"Yeah, I'll have a little. You should have some too, though." She said, grabbing two coffee cups and two bowls from her cupboard.

"I think I'll take you up on that."

She filled their cups with some water and gave him some cold medicine. He didn't argue and swallowed it, his hand shaking as he held the mug. "Oh, Matt. I'm so sorry. I can't believe I got you sick."

He ignored the sympathy. "What are you watching?"

"Singin' in the Rain." She said, smiling. "It's my go-to happy movie. Especially when I'm sick."

"I like the song that's playing."

She listened. "You Were Meant for Me" was playing. "Me too. I wish they had the audio descriptions. I always look for that when I buy movies now. Can't expect much from a movie made in 1952, I guess."

His grin spread from ear to ear. She blushed.

"You have anywhere to be?"  She said, pouring the soup into bowls.

"Nope. Were you very far into the movie?"

"I could re-watch this one over and over again. I also fell asleep pretty quickly."

Karen grabbed a tray that she used when she worked or ate in bed and put their soups and cups on it. Matt poured the tea and brought them over to the bed. She lifted the covers and slid in. "Do you want to get out of your suit? I washed the clothes you lent me. They're probably still warm."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Believe me, I did. When I got out of the shower, it smelled so terrible in here that it was making me sick. So I washed everything."

"That sounds pretty great, actually."

He took the clothes to the bathroom and changed. He came back out still wearing his dress socks. It was adorable.

He shivered again. "Climb under the covers, Murdock. You'll feel better."

He laughed. "Who's taking care of whom?" He said, climbing under the fluffy comforter. After Karen re-started the movie, she placed it on the bed between them. They took their soups off of the tray and ate while Karen described the movie. Her head against his.

"They are at a Hollywood theater. A bunch of actors are showing up to a big movie premiere…" They lay on the bed and she explained what was happening to him in between dialogue and songs.

"I'd watch movies more often if the audio descriptions were given by you." He said. She blushed.

They made it halfway through way through the movie before Matt fell asleep. Karen put their tray on Matt's nightstand and put the laptop on her own. She helped a barely conscious Matt adjust pillows under his head, and he shifted down to get more comfortable. Then she pulled the covers over his shoulders and lay next to him, watching the movie until she fell asleep.

Matt woke up to her coughing. He checked his watch and saw that it had been 6 hours since he'd arrived. He was still incredibly exhausted. He reached over to her forehead and told her she had a fever. She just nodded. She felt incredibly weak, and she choked down the cold medicine he handed her. She realized how much her throat was hurting and he read her mind again, handing her a cough drop. "It may be a good idea to take a lukewarm shower, Karen. Your fever is pretty high."

"You can tell that just by touching my forehead?"

"I have a knack for these things."

"Well then whatever you say, nurse Murdock."

He got up and lifted her covers, pulling her out of bed. She put her feet on the floor and they gave way slightly, so she corrected herself. He lifted her into his arms, surprising her.

"Matt, I can walk!" She said emphatically. "You don't feel well either!"

He chuckled. "Maybe I'm just not patient enough to wait for you to walk across the room," he said walking toward the bathroom. He found the shower and turned the water on, waiting for it to get lukewarm as she undressed.

"I'll be out here. You want some more soup when you're done?"

"I don’t have much of an appetite." She said, shrugging.

"Me neither."

She walked into the shower and grabbed the shower head, sitting on the seat inside. She dozed off for a minute until she dropped it, scaring herself awake. As she rinsed the shampoo from her hair, she realized how little energy she had, and didn't even bother to add conditioner. She turned the water off and dried herself, shivering worse than before, and put her clothes back on.

Karen walked out to Matt sitting in bed and drinking tea.

"You look pretty at home here," she said

"I'm pretty sure you don't want to get rid of someone who is taking such good care of you." He said.

"That is definitely true." She said, knowing that if he felt anything like she did, he probably didn’t have the strength to get back to his apartment.

He handed her a cup of tea when she got into bed and she took a sip, setting it on the nightstand.

"I don’t think I have ever been this tired before." She said pulling the covers over her as she shivered.

He sat his tea down and felt her head again. "You're a little less warm. Do you need anything else?"

"I'll be alright." Matt lowered himself into the bed, facing her. Her teeth were chattering.

He stuck his arm under her neck and pulled her closer to him, running his fingers up her arm and into her hair. Her teeth went quiet as she smelled him. "Even sick, you smell amazing, Matt Murdock…" she said drowsily. He smelled her hair as she closed her eyes, kissing her forehead and falling asleep to the sound of her breathing.


End file.
